Have you ever loved a recipe so much, but hated how labor intensive it could be,  but then you found a deconstructed version of that recipe and made it your own? That’s what this is! Traditionally, this is a Lebanese dish my husband’s family grew up eating and making. The original version of stuffed squash, is very labor intensive.  But this version, makes this a manageable week night meal. Enjoy!

Lazy squash is pretty easy. But I don’t have any measurements for the ingredients. For this batch I used:

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef (I prefer 90/10)
1/3 c rice
S/p to taste
About 2tsps Cinnamon
Tbs butter

Mix ingredients together well and form uniform sized meatballs. Set aside in fridge for about an hour to let flavors blend.

1tbs butter
1/2 large onion, diced
3 yellow squash,
Diced
8 oz can of tomato sauce
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
S/P to taste
1-2 tbs Cinnamon (to taste. Start small and add more as needed)

In pot, melt butter and add diced onions. Cook until translucent (about 5 min). To the onions, add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, and beef stock. Season with s/p and cinnamon. Taste the sauce to see if it needs more cinnamon. Place meatballs in sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Carefully stir so the sauce doesn’t burn and the meatballs don’t break. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add squash and stir gently. Continue to simmer for about 45 minutes or until rice in the meatballs is cooked. Stir occasionally. Adjust seasoning.

Serve with pita bread. (You can also brighten things up with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over it when serving.) Enjoy!